Driver falls asleep on Highway 99 in Merced County, leading to rollover crash
A driver was lucky to walk away from a rollover crash on Highway 99 in Atwater early Friday.
Just before 3 a.m., a driver going south on Highway 99 fell asleep near the Atwater-Merced Expressway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The vehicle left the highway and overturned several times, a CHP Merced Facebook post said.
The driver suffered no major injuries, only some leg pain, the post said.
Tired-driver crashes occur most frequently between midnight and 6 a.m., or in the late afternoon, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They also most likely involve a driver with no passengers and occur on rural roads and highways, the NHTSA says.
Here are some tips from the NHTSA:
- Get adequate sleep on a daily basis.
- Before the start of a long car trip, get a good night’s sleep.
- Avoid drinking any alcohol before driving. Consumption of alcohol interacts with sleepiness to increase drowsiness and impairment.
- Always check your prescription and over-the-counter medication labels to see if drowsiness could result from their use.
- If you drive, avoid driving during the peak sleepiness periods (midnight to 6 a.m. and late afternoon).
- If you start to get sleepy while you’re driving, drink one to two cups of coffee and pull over for a short 20-minute nap in a safe place, such as a lighted, designated rest stop.
Jim Silva
The Modesto Bee